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The NBA announced on Monday that the Atlanta Hawks will play a 2014 regular season game in London against the Brooklyn Nets. The event will be held at the 02 Arena in London on January 16 and it will be the first time Atlanta has ever played a regular season game outside of North America.
The 02 arena has hosted seven NBA games since the 2007 season and this will be Atlanta's first appearance in London since a pair of games against the Orlando Magic back in 1993. The Hawks' first overseas appearance came in 1988 when they traveled to Russia for exhibition games against the Soviet National Team.
The game will be broadcast internationally with details to come later.
Since Danny Ferry has taken over as general manager, he has worked hard to change the team's image around the league. There was a time when the Hawks' bickering ownership group would have been enough to keep them off of one of the league's biggest stages.
The Hawks and Nets won't be alone as the San Antonio Spurs and the Minnesota Timberwolves will play a regular season game in Mexico City on December 4. This will mark the first time that the league has staged two regular season games in two different countries in the same season.